Page 9 of Hollow State

Zadie took a step backward. “Right.”

Darwin buttoned his shirt, missing the correct hole on the first attempt. He quickly corrected it before reaching for his glasses.

Wynn tugged her shirt into place and smoothed her hair. “What do you need?”

“Nothing urgent.” Zadie shrugged.

“You came to medical for a reason," Darwin said. "Let's hear it. Please."

Zadie pointed to the tablet in her hand. “I pulled more information off Emma’s hard drive. It looks like waypoints and GPS signals. I thought it might be useful for you, Wynn, Gideon, and me to sit down and look at everything together.”

“Can you be a little more specific? That kind of stuff isn't in my wheelhouse,” Darwin said.

Zadie stepped back into the room. “What we pulled might have come from the mini-HELIOS devices. Gideon thinks we might have found some of the movement records Emma kept on her subjects. I’d like to see whether we can connect specific devices to patient numbers, then compare the locations to known disappearances.”

“That’s a good idea,” Wynn said. “We’ll meet in the war room in ten minutes.”

“We can make it thirty," Zadie said. “Or maybe an hour. It looked as though you needed more time. But maybe lock the door. Or go back to one of your rooms. Fewer sharp objects.”

"We'll see you in ten minutes," Darwin said. "War room."

Zadie waved the tablet. "Too bad… for you two." She slipped into the corridor and disappeared.

Darwin stared at the open door, then threaded his fingers through his hair. “That's gonna spread through the bunker like pinkeye.”

“Zadie’s the last person who’ll gossip," Wynn said. “She’ll guard that information as if it’s encrypted military intelligence… for a couple of days at least. Or until someone offers her something like chocolate cake.”

“Not making me feel any better or older than a middle schooler.”

“Wasn't supposed to.”

Darwin inched closer. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind Wynn’s ear, his fingers lingering against her cheek. “It’s not that I mind if the others know, or that I don’t want to be with you,” he said. “I do.”

She smiled. “You don’t have to say it. I know.”

“I don’t want you thinking I changed my mind.”

“You stopped when Zadie opened the door.”

“That's true, but I'm thinking I might have stopped… eventually.”

“We agreed to take this slowly,” she said. “We have a mission to complete, and right now, we all need to stay focused. Our feelings aren’t going anywhere." She kissed his cheek. “See you in the war room.”

He caught her fingers for a final second before letting go.

Wynn walked into the corridor and headed toward the main section of the bunker.

It was impossible to take this relationship slowly. She loved him.

Not a cautious, developing affection that might become something significant under the right conditions. She’d passed that point without recognizing the border.

Keeping herself from getting completely naked while in his bed would require more discipline than any mission she’d faced, but she would find it. Finch had already taken their careers, their names, and any chance at ordinary lives.

Wynn refused to let what she and Darwin were building become another of Finch’s casualties.

CHAPTER THREE

Darwin stretched, reached for his coffee mug, took a long, slow sip, and stared at Kane Archer’s blood panel.